Title: Signatures of Couples’ Dyadic Stress

Presenter: Ashley Randall, PhD, Associate Professor of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University

Abstract: Romantic dyads are evolving systems, each carrying a unique configuration of temporally based behaviors and affect. Although the experience may be temporary, stress on and within the system undoubtedly modifies the dyadic structure. Despite the prevalence of stress research in the field of psychology, to date, there has been little research tying stress to observable structural features in conversing dyads. Using time-series data from 42 heterosexual couples’ momentary experiences of stress, this talk will present preliminary results that show if differing stress levels generate unique signatures.  Additionally, with clustering techniques, and utilizing Information Theoretic metrics, this talk will present results that derive clusters that reflect how stress might modify dyadic interaction.